Chapter 3 - FALLING THROUGH THE ASHESBOOM!
A massive explosion shattered the foundation beneath Ronan’s feet. The concrete floor caved in, sending steel girders and flaming debris plunging into the freezing, murky waters of the ocean bay beneath the pier.
"Boss!" Brendan screamed, firing wildly toward the catwalk as the warehouse began to collapse in a domino effect of fire and twisted iron.
Vance cursed as the metal catwalk buckled beneath the force of the blast. Loosening his grip in panic, Vance stumbled backward. Tessa, despite her bound hands, threw her entire weight into Vance’s knees, sending the man crashing over the railing.
She tumbled after him, plunging thirty feet down into the dark, burning abyss of the destroyed pier.
Ronan scrambled up from the edge of the shattered concrete, coughing through thick black smoke. His shoulder was dislocated from the fall, but he didn't feel the pain. All he saw was the splash of water and the red glow of fire on the ocean surface.
Without hesitation, Ronan jumped into the freezing water.
The ocean was ice, biting into his skin like needle points. Plunging beneath the surface, he kicked fiercely through floating planks and sinking iron. His eyes burned under the salty water until he spotted her—sinking like a stone, heavy zip-ties weighing her down, her soft hair billowing around her like a shadow.
He kicked toward her, wrapping his arm around her waist, and pulled her toward the surface.
When they broke through the water into the smoke-filled air, Tessa was gasping, coughing violently, her chest heaving. Ronan dragged her toward a wooden floating dock, hoisting her up before pulling himself out of the water.
He immediately pulled a knife from his boot and sliced the zip-ties from her wrists.
"Tessa!" he shouted over the roar of the flames above them. "Look at me!"
Tessa collapsed against his chest, shivering violently, her skin blue from the freezing tide. She looked up at him, her lips trembling.
"You... you shouldn't have come," she sobbed, tears cutting clean lines through the dirt on her pale cheeks. "I left... so you would be safe..."
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Ronan pressed his hand against the back of her head, pulling her face into his neck, ignoring the blood and seawater soaking through his clothes.
"You stupid, foolish woman," Ronan growled, his voice breaking—a sound no man in Boston had ever heard from him before. "You protected my life for four years, and you thought I would let them take yours?"
